People who understand Bitcoin realise that "blockchain" isn't really a technology, it's just a simple sequential file with linking between adjacent records. However, the word seems to have captured the imagination of the public, and there are many who have jumped on an expanded concept to push their own products. There seem to be a lot of people who assume that "The Blockchain" is synonymous with Bitcoin, and this is far from the truth. We constantly see products being publicised with major omissions from the Bitcoin concept. - no proof of work, no cryptography, no distributed ledger, centralised control, no public blockchain access, no significant peer community and many others.
It would appear that "The Blockchain" is here to stay as a descriptive phrase, so how can we get some consensus as to the elements that are basic to the "technology"?
Blockchain is actually a good word for it, regardless of what the actual implications of the technology are. Based on the current applications of it and its current iterations, it is a "blockchain".
The elements basic to the technology are separated, verified data files that are pushed through every x amount of time, with a public database of all the information. That's most of it.